43 African countries shut borders as cases increase

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - As the COVID-19 caseload surpassed 232,815 on Sunday across Africa, 43 countries on the continent had closed their borders in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus.

The death toll from the pandemic had reached 6,244, and 106,459 people had recovered, said the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC.

The northern African region was the most affected area across the continent in terms of cases and number of deaths, it said.

The most badly hit countries include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Djibouti, Nigeria and Algeria, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union Commission said.

On Saturday some countries reported records for daily increases in infections.

Egypt registered 1,677 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily surge to that point, raising the national count to 42,980, the country's health ministry said.

The country also reported a record single-day increase of 62 in COVID-19 deaths, taking the death toll to 1,484, said Khaled Megahed, the health ministry spokesman.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, with a population of about 107 million, reported 268 new infections on Saturday, the highest daily increase so far, taking the country's tally to 3,166, the country's health ministry said.

High daily rise

South Africa, the worst-hit country on the continent, had registered a total of 65,736 cases and 1,423 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

In addition to the 43 countries that had closed their borders, the Africa CDC said on Saturday that curfews had been imposed in 35 countries in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.

About seven countries have imposed international air traffic closures, two have imposed travel restrictions to and from specific countries, and two have activated entry and exit restrictions, the Africa CDC said.

Some countries still allow cargo, freight and emergency transport into and out of their countries, and some African Union member states allow citizens and residents to enter, but all borders are essentially closed, it said.

On Saturday the African Union voiced its appreciation for "the significant contribution" China had made to fighting COVID-19 in the continent.

The message of appreciation was contained in a communique issued at the end of a video-teleconference meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government with Chairpersons of the African Union Regional Economic Communities.

The communique says that the heads of state and government "noted with appreciation the significant contribution made by the People's Republic of China to this effort, including setting aside a portion of its manufacturing capacity to ensure the supply of 30 million testing kits, 10,000 ventilators and 80 million masks each month for the continent".

Xinhua